Death Note as an Irregular Detective Fiction

The traditional elements of a regular detective fiction includes a serious crime, preferably a murder, where the greater power of minute observation and superior deductive skills of the investigator tries to deduce the solution to the mystery puzzle. This generally culminates in an unexpected denouement where the detective reveals the identity of the culprit and how it was ascertained. However, 'Death Note' as a detective fiction deviates from the traditional genre as it employs rational, objective detective methodologies while incorporating elements of the gothic and paranormal absurdities, thus solidifying its standing in the genre of "irregular detective fiction". The Death Note series has a unique perspective of combining two uncommon genres for an anime and instances from this series has to be analysed to understand this genre. Let us start by explaining the plot in a nutshell, and analysing instances to validate it. Before going to the plot, I would like to explain in brief the history of irregular detective fiction.

The irregular detective fiction or the henkaku tantei shosetsu (in japanese) was first established by Koga Saburo of the magazine Shinseinen around the year 1920. Edogawa Rampo, became Japan's first writer of detective fiction in 1923. Rampo developed his own style and in founding the Japanese Mystery Writer's Club encouraged other Japanese writers to take an innovative approach to detective fiction. While this new genre was inspired by the works of Western writers like Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Rampo wanted to advance the genre and imbue it specifically with Japanese sensibilities rather than adhering to the template established by Western writers.

When the world was supple with surging crime rates, a young teenage genius ponders over this deteriorating state of the world as he watches daily news to find that crimes and murders to be worthy of media's time. The boy in context is named Light Yagami who has a radical perception of justice, and stumbles on a note called the "Death Note". This kick starts the supernatural thriller series. Light discovers that writing an individual's name on the death note causes the immediate death of the individual within 40 seconds, and that he can also decide the condition of death and actions before death. When he walks from his school to home that day, he witnesses three goons attempting rape on a young girl. Having witnessed this horrific scene, he fumbles with anger and thinks that such people would be better off dead. He realises this when the Police force and justice system bats an ignorant eye to it, and that nobody but Light alone can be the saviour of this world. He thus endeavours to create a new world devoid of criminals and a world full of honest and hardworking people. To achieve this end, he employs a brutal justice method to eradicate each and every criminal by writing their name on the death note. Thus the succession of mysterious deaths among the criminals begins with the existence of someone named "Kira" passing judgment in the name of justice. The world gets divided between two sides, the innocent ones who cheers for Kira and dreams of a peaceful world and the other side who acclaims the series of murders as "the most gruesome act of murder". Thus appears the character of L, the detective who has intense psychological insight and deductive skills to unmask the perpetrator of these mysterious murders. The Death Note mentions several rules as to how to use it, which makes the series more intriguing and carries on the line of mystery. However , since the death note needs both a name and a face to kill , Kira has to face hurdles to kill L , as L has never shown his face in public and uses several pseudonyms to cover his real identity. Both the protagonist, L, and antagonist, Kira, use intensive deductive skills in order to figure out each others identity throughout the entire series .Unlike traditional detective series , here both the protagonist and the antagonist chase each other through a series of intense deductive mental battle. Arguably, the show does not even have a clear ' hero ' and ' villain ' because even though the antagonist kills thousands, he works towards a noble motive to cleanse the society of criminals posing a danger to the world. And even though the detective working to catch him is working to stop the murders , he does not care about people’s lives and emotions. I would like to interpret this series more as a war between two anti-heroes. However, whoever intervenes in his path of murders, Light eradicates them too, which eventually makes Kira evil. Light loses sensibility as a human being, as he feels no remorse for wanting to kill all those who love him due to the involvement in the investigation and events surrounding the death note. With the twist and turn of events, Kira succeeds to kill L meticulously which gives way to the entry of another detective, having similar personality and deductive skills as L, named 'Near', who ultimately unmasks who the really Kira is.

The plot of this series deviates from the traditional detective fiction as both the detective and antagonist chase each other, rather than only the detective going after Kira.

While the story structure relies more on detective fiction genre, but its symbolic aspects takes its influences from Gothic imagery and events. The series may not contain a complete dreary setting throughout the anime, but if we churn out a list of Gothic fiction characteristics it includes the otherworldly and supernatural creatures, an atmosphere of suspense and mystery heightened by dark rooms and claustrophobic entrapment, biblical imagery, paranormal activities of the antagonist and mystical personalities of the major detectives.

The supernatural events are predominant throughout since Kira is killing all his targets by simply writing their name in the notebook once he sees their face. The most prominent supernatural thriller is having the otherworldly creatures death Gods called "Shinigamis" constantly following those who own the actual death note. The viewer feels a constant suspenseful air in which the reader waits in anticipation to see how Kira and L think in order to stay one step ahead of each other. Even the settings commonly exhibit feelings of gloom and entrapment since the rooms most events take place in are always dark, dingy and dull, having no ornamentation. For instance, Light would constantly write in the Death Note when he was in his dark, cramped room, and L often sat in a dark room when researching or on his computer. Ryuk, the Shinigami accompanying Light gobbles up bulks of apples, and talks to Light which only he can hear. The invisibility of Shinigamis to people other than the owner of the death note heightens the mystical aura. The Shinigamis have what they call "Shinimagi eyes" which can detect a person's name and lifespan only by looking at their faces. They can trade their Shinigami eyes in exchange of half of the remaining lifespan of the owner, if the owner decides to do so. However, Light does not trade Ryuk's Shinigami eyes. As the events progress, the advent of another death note owner, named Misa Amane with another Shinigami Rem, becomes apparent. She has the Shinigami eyes and falls in love with Light Yagami. Light uses her and manipulates her love to his personal motive. All these instances collimate to amplify the supernatural setting of the series. The music effects of the series also contribute to this.

Talking of the major detective L, who takes on the challenge of catching the mass murderer attributed as "Kira", he becomes suspicious of Light Yagami and makes it his goal to prove that Light is Kira. He has a dishevelled languid appearance. His personality attributes are quite strange: he has messy black hair and dark eyes, with dark shadows below each of his eye. He is shown never wearing shoes or socks and going out barefoot even in public, throughout the entire series. The way he sits is strange too, lifting up his legs on the chair. He has strange habits like he is constantly shown consuming sweet foods be it chocolates or cakes, and picking up things just with the help of a finger and a thumb. His strange habits include biting fingernails, placing feet on furniture, slouching, chewing with an open mouth, talking with his mouth full, and giving personal observations that may offend others.

He has an assistant through whom he communicates to the world, named Watari, similar to Dr. Watson of Sherlock Holmes. However, in Death Note Shinigamis and the supernatural exist, but in Sherlock Holmes the concept of Heaven and Hell are simple. Despite this, we can see that both of them have similarities characteristic of a detective: exceptional deductive skills and case solving abilities. After L dies, another detective takes his place called "Near", who has the similar strangeness of L. Throughout the entire series, he is shown sitting on a chair, or walking. He sits on the floor and keeps playing with toys. Such strangeness masks his great powers of deduction and many question his abilities upon viewing him. But his meticulousness unravels at the end who the real Kira is.

Thus, in a nutshell, we can say that the series "Death Note" contains all of the sleuthing and deduction that any detective fiction would have and combines it with the dark and dreary strangeness of Gothic style. It even goes beyond to add a mystical aspect that gives each character an interesting way to solve the puzzle, as we deduced from the characteristics of the detective.

The series is also an "inverted detective story" . By definition, An inverted detective story, also known as a "howcatchem", is a murder mystery fiction structure in which the commission of the crime is shown or described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator. The story then describes the detective's attempt to solve the mystery (Wikipedia). The beginning of the series Light Yagami is shown committing the murders and L's later attempts to reveal the identity of Kira.

Thus Death Note is a unique anime as it is tied to combined genres and also takes many ideas and themes from its predecessors to validate its standing in the genre of irregular-detective-fiction.